Andy Crean, owner of the landmark Villa Nova restaurant in Newport Beach, has announced that he plans to sell it in an auction in February. BARBARA VENEZIA, FOR THE REGISTER

After 20 years as owner of the Villa Nova restaurant on the water in Newport Beach, Andy Crean is ready to retire.

"It is ironic that April 1, 1993 is the day I arrived at the Villa Nova as its new owner, and 20 years to the day, I will wake up retired. It has been a good run," he told me.

Rumors have been flying since October that the iconic restaurant, with its tradition of fine Italian dining, was up for sale.

Crean says he spoke with several interested parties, but nothing came of it.

"To investigate each individual required several weeks to a month," he said. "It all became too time consuming."

Crean has decided to go the auction route.

Handling the auction will be Tranzon Auction in Irvine. The auction will take place Feb. 28.

Crean says Tranzon will post auction details on its website, tranzon.com, in the coming days.

At this point, the Villa Nova restaurant will definitely close at the end of March with a change of ownership, he said.

Crean's decision to sell the property and the restaurant was initiated when his mother, Donna Crean, passed away last July.

The land the restaurant sits on is owned by DSC Properties, Inc. and co-owned by Crean and his late parents' estate.

The lease for the Villa Nova property expires in two years and Crean says he's not interested in owning it and becoming a landlord.

He said his ability to sell the restaurant operation with two years remaining on the lease is highly unlikely. Any buyer of the restaurant would want to have a new lease in place prior to purchase, he said.

At the same time, potential buyers for the property would have to wait two years to implement any plans for the property.

Selling both entities at a single auction allows prospective landlords to team with prospective operators to purchase both entities on the same day, Crean said.

"It will be a bittersweet day, but I will not regret either buying or selling the business," he said.

When Villa Nova's original owners, the Dale family, filed bankruptcy, Crean purchased the restaurant at a bankruptcy hearing in March 1993.

When Crean and I talked the other day, I couldn't believe it's been 20 years since he bought it.

I remember the first night he took over the restaurant.

His father, John Crean, and I had just finished taping one of our "At Home on the Range" cooking episodes and we came over for dinner. The food was much better there than on our show.

Andy Crean was buzzing around, greeting diners, and the smell of that great Villa Nova Italian food permeated the air.

John Crean was proud of his son becoming a restaurateur, though he did poke fun at him on one of our shows saying, "There wasn't much else Andy could do. Not a lot of call for sheep herders in Orange County these days."

Andy Crean hopes whoever buys the restaurant will keep those employees who have been loyal to the operation. He credits them for Villa Nova's success.

"There are three employees with over 30 years' service, 10 who've been there for over 20 years, and another 15 with over 10 years of service," he said. "There are 50 employees who've made a living for their families at this restaurant."

Crean has many fond memories of Villa Nova.

"It was here I learned I was going to be a grandpa for the first time," he said, "and that granddaughter is now attending Chapman University. There are now an additional four grandchildren and I look forward to spending more time with them."

Crean's been working on this sale for months and whenever we've talked about it I could see he had mixed emotions.

On one hand he loves the place, the folks who work there and the customers.

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